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The London Stock Exchange's electronic trading system was the key driver of record figures for January, generating a 60% rise in trading as the exchange revealed its first set of trading figures since successfully fighting Nasdaq's hostile bid.

Trading on the exchange's electronic order book, which is called Sets, was up 61% on last year to 8.7 million transactions while the value of trading was up 33% to £156.5m (€243.7m).

Included in these figures was a 106% increase on the order book for its top 250 companies, which topped 2 million trades in a single month for the first time.

The LSE’s international order book was up 66% by number of trades and 61% by value, and its exchange traded fund business was up 68% by number and 104% by value on last year.

The figures follow months of insistence by the LSE that it can provide greater shareholder value by remaining independent that by accepting Nasdaq’s £2.9bn (€4.3bn) takeover bid.

By 15:25 GMT, LSE shares were trading down 0.9% from Friday's close at £12.70, the price at which they had opened this morning.

Nasdaq was forced to walk away from its hostile bid on Saturday with just a fraction of the shares it needed to take control of the LSE.

The LSE said it could now get on with its business without the “distraction of ill-considered approaches which fail to understand the value of the business.”

The exchange, led by chief executive Clara Furse, is set to forge ahead with a strategic partnership with the Tokyo Stock Exchange. It is expected to make an announcement on the deal before the end of this month.

The LSE is also in talks to buy a 5% stake in the Bombay Stock Exchange, 26% of which is being sold.

Deutsche Börse, Nasdaq, the New York Stock Exchange and the Singapore Exchange have also indicated interest in the Indian exchange.

The US exchange added it would remain a long-term shareholder of the LSE, and that it “will monitor with interest how the business performs going forward.”

In the past two years the LSE has also seen off takeover bids from Australia's Macquarie Bank and Germany's Deutsche Börse.